Federal Government is likely to re-advertise the job for the appointment of Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, we’ve been told by sources.
After it failed to short-list any suitable candidate, the sources said, government has no option but to advertise the position again.
Market insiders said that even if a Chairman is appointed out of the four short-listed candidates, the move will only get challenged in the courts.
Mr. Khawar Khokhar, Mushtaq Bhatti, Saad Amaan and Mr. Talat Abbas were shortlisted for the Chairman’s position.
Dr. Ismail Shah and Mr. Riaz Ahmed, who were called for the interviews, decided not to pursue their chances.
“This is only going to delay the appointment further and may take up to three months”, said a source who works at PTA.
Not to mention, there was a court binding for the government to appoint a Chairman of PTA before January 21st, 2018. The said adhoc order is now long expired while the case is still being heard at Lahore High Court where next hearing is scheduled for February 26th, 2018.
Telecom industry, on the other hand, is in limbo as the regulator is currently without any Chairman and Member Finance.
This is not the first time that government has taken this long for the appointment of Chairman PTA. It seems like a norm now to delay the appointment for indefinite period time for reasons not known to the common man.
Appointment of Dr. Ismail Shah, the outgoing Chairman of PTA, was also conducted after Supreme Court intervened and gave the government a deadline.
Appointment of Member Finance
Alongside the appointment of Chairman PTA, Government also advertised the job for the Member Finance and has short-listed four candidates — including Mr. Tariq Sultan and and Mr. Muhammad Naveed –after thorough screening.
Interestingly, Mr. Tariq Sultan, who is also shortlisted for Member Finance’s position, is a dual national but his name is included in the list of candidates who can be appointed as member finance.
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Since it’s clearly mentioned in the advertisement that dual nationals will not be eligible for the position, it is worth wondering why the selection committee has shortlisted a candidate who is a Canadian National.
And if dual nationals are eligible, as Mr. Tariq Sultan has remained member finance at PTA in past, the introduction of the clause in advertisement and then short-listing a dual national appears to be a deliberate move by the government to only delay the process.
If Mr. Tariq Sultan is picked for member finance, the appointment is likely to get challenged in the court.